Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Movie: Angels and Demons

Right. The interesting thing about this movie and the Da Vinci code is that the first book was Angels and Demons and the second book was the Da Vinci Code. Conversely, the first movie was the Da Vinci Code and the second movie was Angels and Demons.

This works well in some ways and not so well in others. In the books, the truly fantastic things of the Da Vinci code draw in the main character because he is specifically sought out as a result of the actions in Angels and Demons. In the movie (I haven't read the Angels and Demons book) it seems far more plausible to me that the Vatican is going to call this ONE GUY from out of nowhere to deal with this problem given the semi accidental happenings in Da Vinci code.

Of course, the real problem I have is that, given the magnitude of the revelation/main reveal at the end of the Da Vinci Code, you'd think that the world would be substantially changed in Angels and Demons..at leasts superficially. But it isn't. It is true that in the book and the movie, the implication is that it will eventually be a chance to come to light, but that it would be a slow quiet one...and yet....we are led to believe that the mere existance of this threat to the Catholic church is so dire that they would risk sending an assasin to kill prominent french leaders if it got out.

I find the plot of Angels and Demons a lot more plausible. However, I like the 'mystic symbols/side show discovery channel' aspect of the Da Vinci code a lot more. Granted, there might be more of that in Angels and Demons the book, but then again the Da Vinci code became a run away best seller and Angels and Demons did not. There certainly isn't ANY of the scholarly interesting stuff in Angels and Demons that I found that interesting. Of course, it is true that they mention things like 'this church or that' but it was a lot harder to believe that it wasn't just something the author made up out of thin air....hard to say why.